Austin Sound

Even though this video was self-made, it’s pretty good. Some of that credit has to surely just go to the quality Chris Brecht’s songwriting itself, with “Night Highway 99″ one of the more impressive songs on his debut from last year, The Great Ride. (Some of the credit also should probably go to Brecht’s girlfriend who was apparently ok with him filming her in the bathroom, ahem.) Brecht’s imagistic narratives and languid drawl reel the listener in with a Dylan-esque aplomb, and backed by his band of Dead Flowers, he’s been known to throw down some kick ass country-rock. That will likely be the case tonight, June 30, when he takes over the Mohawk with an awesome lineup that includes Leo Rondeau, who impressed us with tales Down at the End of the Bar, and former Sound Off featured artist, Mike and the Moonpies. As an added bonus, we just discovered that Brecht has put up a bunch of older recordings on his Myspace page for download, including some unreleased stuff. Video for “Night Highway 99″ below:

Last Thursday, garage rock legend and founder of the Seeds Sky Saxon passed away here in Austin, where he and his wife Sabrina had relocated only a few months before. Saxon, born Richard Marsh, reportedly died of kidney and heart failure due to an undiagnosed internal infection. Although he had spent only a short time here in Austin, and news of his passing was eclipsed by other celebrity deaths last week, he had already left a mark on the city with his music and his presence, especially in his headlining set at the Psych Fest in March with locals Shapes Have Fangs backing him as the World Spirits. (Watch a video of the performance below).

Reviewing an album isn’t an easy task; sometimes, it seems like reviewing an album is harder and more arduous (or at least time consuming) than writing and recording one. Case in point: Coma in Algiers’ sophomore release, Your Heart Your Body. One of the more established noise rockers in a city more attuned towards country and blues rock, Coma in Algiers is a tough nut to crack, a hard meal to digest, and an acid tab slow to absorb. Keyboardist/vocalist Killshire and keyboardist/bassist/vocalist Archbold’s founding inspirational moment is self described as how the two of them were “listening to the Electric Eels and were full of disgust & joy for their lack of talent” — and it’s hard to know if that’s the Electric Eels lack of talent or Killshire and Archbold’s own self assessment.

Ah, the Austin Lounge Lizards, speaking truth to misguided power for almost three decades. Their latest timely offering, “Too Big To Fail”, takes on the bailouts, and while it’s a little more direct than their best satirical songs, it’s still the kind of irreverent string folk that we’ve come love and depend on from the local group. The song, written by Lindsey Eck, will purportedly be on an upcoming album that the quartet is working on, while the video was directed by Steven Mims, who was responsible for their 20th Anniversary DVD, aptly titled Lizards Times Twenty, back in 2000. Peep the video below:

There may be no group in Austin right now as suave, sultry, and infectiously grooving as Los Bad Apples. Helmed by Anita Benner with local standout rapper Zeale serving as counterpunch and opposite anchor, the quintet melds smooth R&B and Hip-Hop with jazz and Latin influences and hard driving dance beats. While the Black Eyed Peas are an inevitable point of comparison, as much for LBA’s diversity as their sound, the group’s eclectic vibe feels like a distinctly Austin hybrid, and their backgrounds from classically trained Bossa Nova and jazz, to streetwise rhymes, to Latin pop all come to bear on their recently released, eponymous debut album. Los Bad Apples have already started garnering international acclaim, and have some exciting upcoming collaborations in the works that will likely be bringing them much more attention in the next few months. Catch them while you can this Friday, July 3, at Lambert’s, for a show that will also bring DJ Chicken George back into the LBA fold.

For the past several years, Chris Rose has packed the dancefloors here in Austin with Car Stereo (Wars) phenomenal mashups, but tonight he bids adieu to the scene for bright lights of New York City. We know, who would want to leave this wonderful weather, right?! Tonight’s show at the Beauty Bar will no doubt be a packed, sweaty, crazy dance party, with lots of great tunes (Rose has promised some awesome new MJ mixes) and folks out to see Car Stereo (Wars) go bumping out in style. We posed a few questions to Rose to find out what’s next for him, and what’s in store for tonight. Also on the bill at the Beauty Bar are locals Neiliyo and Zeale, along with the phenomenal freestyling of Astronautalis. Car Stereo (Wars) goes on round midnight, and that party will probably roll until the noise police come to shut it down! Also, if you happen to be up in Chicago for Lollapalooza in August, you’ll be able to catch him one more time at the big fest. Jump for some words of wisdom.

It’s strange that no one heard about this, especially given the extreme devotion of Spoon fans. Stereogum just announced that Spoon will be dropping a new EP next Tuesday, June 30, called Got Nuffin’. The band is still clearly on a campaign to seek grammatical revenge against middle school English teachers (they seem to be winning!). The EP consists of three new tunes, the title track, “Tweakers,” and “Stroke Their Brains,” and you can apparently listen to them right now on Amazon, though we couldn’t figure out how, cuz Spoon haz rotted r branez! Better yet, you can undoubtedly catch them performing the song live in a couple of weeks at their big SpoonX3 shows at Stubb’s on July 9, 10, and 11. That lineup is below, if there are still tickets available.

The Riverboat Gamblers have been out on tour for the past the past month or so (actually, it seems their always on tour!), so the video for “Victory Lap” feels especially appropriate, capturing the local punks on stage and on the road. We’ve been following the Gambler’s tour adventures through Mike Wiebe’s twitter (@mikewiebe) and have decided that of all the local bands and musicians we follow, Wiebe has to be the most amusing. Of course, it helps when you are constantly getting pulled over and stripped searched at the Canadian border! And yes, a cop makes an appearance in the “Victory Lap” video.

The song is off of the band’s latest, Underneath the Owl, and premiered on Altpress.com. It was directed by Jose Jones, and we love the live footage capturing the Gamblers in all their flailing glory. They’ll be rolling back home here to Austin on July 15 with a show Antone’s, and then heading over tour Europe. We should also mention that you can download the Gamblers’ cover of Prince’s “Let’s Go Crazy” as part of the Purplish Rain tribute over at Spin, so there’s that, too.

Yesterday word came that Sky Saxon, who had moved to Austin only a couple weeks ago, had been admitted to St. David’s Hospital on Monday and was in critical condition. The cause was suspected to be an infection of the internal organs. This morning, the Statesman sends word that Saxon has passed away.

Sky Saxon (born Richard Marsh) was a legendary space cadet, fronting the Sixties garage rockers the Seeds, and recently finding an appreciative home here in Austin. He had already been playing with a number of local bands backing him, including Shapes Have Fangs at this year’s Psych Fest. The post from his wife, Sabrina, on her Facebook page offered the following this morning: “Sky has passed over and YaHoWha is waiting for him at the gate. He will soon be home with his Father. I’m so sorry I couldn’t keep him here with us.” We wish we had had the time to welcome him to Austin more fully.

The Chronicle’s cover story this week delves into the issue of the recent uptick in crime downtown, especially along Sixth St. and Red River where it immediately effects the live music scene. It’s an informative and interesting read (kudos to Marc Savlov!) and an important issue that we have been concerned about and are thrilled to see the Chronicle give such a thorough investigation. While the immediate solutions seem hazy at best (more cops ingrained into more familiar beats), the problem as presented by police chief Art Acevedo is drugs, which is rampant in the alleyways and exploiting the homeless population congregated in the area. There are some very interesting tidbits that get dropped in as well, such as other cities putting their vagrants on buses bound for Austin, and Acevedo’s infatuation with Darth Vadar! (Ok, the latter isn’t particularly relevant, but still!).